Problem: Let $f(x) = -2x^{2}-5x-2$. Where does this function intersect the x-axis (i.e. what are the roots or zeroes of $f(x)$ )?
Explanation: The function intersects the x-axis when $f(x) = 0$ , so you need to solve the equation: $-2x^{2}-5x-2 = 0$ Use the quadratic formula to solve $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ $x = \dfrac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$ $a = -2, b = -5, c = -2$ $ x = \dfrac{+ 5 \pm \sqrt{(-5)^{2} - 4 \cdot -2 \cdot -2}}{2 \cdot -2}$ $ x = \dfrac{5 \pm \sqrt{9}}{-4}$ $ x = \dfrac{5 \pm 3}{-4}$ $x =-2,-\frac{1}{2}$